A need to vent

I am sorry to do this, really I am, but I am so frustrated this morning that I need to vent before I explode on some poor child or colleague.

1. The classroom that I share with another teacher is used every hour of the school day, and many hours after the school day as well. If I want to make a phone call during my free period, I have to do so from somewhere else. If I want to work on a project quietly, I either have to put on my headphones (as I am doing right now) or decamp to another location on campus. The only exception to this is when, for three glorious weeks in May, my seniors are no longer in class and I have the room to myself for 90 minutes each morning. I am able to spread out, to organize, to work on scheduling, etc. Today was supposed to be the first of those days. I had big plans. I got to work at 9am after a doctor's appointment and the woman with whom I share the classroom had taken it upon herself to move her class into our room for the morning. I am only a little ashamed to admit that my well-honed passive-aggression came out when I made a point to look at my watch and ask, "Is it 2nd block already" since that is when she should be in the room with her students. When she explained that she decided to move her class into our room because I didn't have students, I didn't even hestitate before asking if she planned to do that every day. I usually avoid confrontation with or second-guessing of adults in front of students, but I was so irritated. And, of course, for those last 30 minutes of what was supposed to be my quiet work time, I was interrupted no less than 5 times by her students who either had questions for me or were just being loud amongst themselves.
   
2. Every year I agree to let the classroom in which I teach be used for middle school study hall. As part of the process, I fill out this detailed contract explaining what can and cannot be used, what the room should look like when the group leaves, etc. And almost every morning, I spend the first 5-10 minutes of my day rearranging and straightening the room so it is ready for my students. I often find materials missing or broken and on more than one occasion a student has written on the white board with permanent marker. Today not only was the bookshelf a complete disaster and the floor littered with paper and crumbs, but the rubber band ball I keep in my desk drawer was missing. It's little stuff, I know, but imagine walking into your office each morning and finding it in a condition completely unlike how you left it. Now imagine that materials you use on a daily basis have been stolen or broken. And finally, imagine that you start your workday at 8am and that you are a little particular about your surroundings. Yes, the irritation of the day grows.
   
3. At the end of last school year I agreed to co-facilitate the upper school team with a member of the student life team. The understanding was that we would work to bridge the gap between our two staffs and create a cohesive upper school team. This is something I have pushed for in the last few years, so I was completely on board. Then, when we met in August, the student life team announced that they were launching a new initiative. Students at every grade level would be sharing a Presentation of Learning at the end of the year. They promised to own the process, but we all know that doesn't work out as nicely as one would like. I am now in charge of scheduling the 130 upper school students for their POLs. I assigned panelists, found locations, arranged for equipment, and created the initial schedule. Now that we are halfway done, the POL schedule is running my life. These are high school students - they don't always come prepared. Every time a student is absent on their POL day or unprepared on their POL day, I have to find an alternate date, time, location, and, sometimes, panel. Every day there is something to manage regarding this process - some new mini-crisis of sorts - and often they are brought to my attention seconds after I enter the building (before I even make it to my classroom, unpack my bag, etc). My co-facilitator is equally overburdened by the POL process, I should mention. It's a lot and it's really stressful and when I complain about it outside of school people just stare at me blankly like they don't understand why I am so frustrated.

Okay, sorry. I really don't hate my job. I just sometimes get overwhelmed by the circumstances under which I am asked/expected to do my job. And since I don't always get the reaction I'm looking for when I complain/vent out loud, I thought writing it down might help with some release. (For the record, I'm not looking for some big reaction, just acknowledgement that I am doing a lot this year and that even though I sort of signed up for it, it is still okay to sometimes be overwhelmed by and/or angry about it.)

On the bright side, tomorrow I am taking my AP students to the Newseum for an all-day, "just because you worked hard this year" field trip. And Friday is their transition ceremony, which is always one of my favorite events to attend. So, you know, good things too.